Jan Evans learned to knit when she was in grade school, with her grandmother as her tutor. She gave it up while she raised her family, but began knitting again 10 years ago.
“I have taught every niece,” she said. “I taught my daughter, she’s 31 now. She called me recently and said she was making mermaid blankets for her nieces.”
The Owensboro, Ky., native now shares her love of knitting with a group of women who call themselves “Chix with Stix.” The women meet weekly to knit together, but they made their third trip to the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center on Oct. 18-20.
“We all have different projects we are working on,” said Linda Knight. “It gives us a chance to socialize, share stories and jokes.”
The women came to the Mount in October 2015 and had such fun they decided to come twice a year, so they returned in April, Knight said.
“We don’t have to cook here and the food is delicious,” she said. There were 20 Chix with Stix registered this time.
“They spoil us rotten here,” Evans said. “We say ‘We’d like some more of those cookies’ and the kitchen staff bakes us more cookies.’”
Moretta Bosley was busy Oct. 18 showing the women how to make shawl pins and decorative buttons. “We’re always teaching each other,” Evans said. “We learn a lot from each other.”
Deb Price, of Owensboro, was making a shawl pin for the first time. She came to the Mount in the spring, but this was her first time in the fall.
“This is my vacation,” she said. “I was really looking forward to this.”
While some may think of knitting as a solitary hobby, Knight said meeting as a group to knit has many benefits.
“People are so isolated now, on their phones, on Facebook,” she said. “When you are face to face with people, you have more of a commitment together.”
Here are some pictures from Oct. 18, as the women met in Conference Room A:
